Twist the script- Wes Leonard

I remember the first time I heard the phrase 'Life imitating art'. It was on a VHS cassette of the great sports moments of the 80's, narrated by Al Michaels. I don't think I fully understood the ramifications at that time, but I was able to glean from the context of the statement (in reference to the 1980 US Olympic hockey squad that, in case you haven't heard, shockingly won the gold medal against the far superior Soviet squad) what it meant.

The implication is that when it comes to telling a compelling story, the artistic medium has a huge advantage over reality. This is because you can dictate everything about that story. You set the details, the chronology, the terms of engagement- everything. You can make it anything you want- and if you do it well enough, it will tap into that place inside all of us that longs to see wrongs set right and the hero of the story triumph against impossible odds. Real life, on the other hand, is bound to the cards it is dealt and left to walk along the paths where the chips fall. The hero doesn't always get the girl. The villain doesn't always get caught.

But that doesn't mean that there aren't real life stories that don't take us to those places. Sometimes, events unfold before our eyes that seem to have been written by a master writer. And when they happen, they are much more powerful than any story could be...because they happened for real. It's one thing to watch a movie and make the leap to reality- because after all, it's easy for the protagonist to succeed when they are passively following the path laid before them by the author. But when the exact same thing happens in the news- we sit up and take notice, because this time our hero more than likely had to take matters into their own hands. And that gives us hope that such strength resides inside of us as well.

Such a thing happened recently, and as a former basketball player and resident of Michigan- it hit somewhat close to home. If you haven't heard, Fennville High star Wes Leonard hit the game winning shot in a high school basketball game on March 3rd- a shot that additionally propelled the Blackhawks to an undefeated regular season. In the midst of the celebration, Leonard collapsed. A couple hours later, Leonard was pronounce dead due to a heart attack caused by dilated cardiomyopathy.

This would be an event that would shake any community. In a town of about 1400 people- well, I can only imagine how much collective pain is being shared. I was especially shocked to find out that in 2010, the school also lost a 14 year old wrestler. Wow. Two young athletes in the span of 14 months, dead well before their time. How do you recover from one- let along two?

My favorite sports stories all revolve around the idea of victory in the face of overwhelming odds. These types of stories reach inside of me and bring me to my knees. I cried during Rudy, and I cried during Remember the Titans, and I even shed some tears during Bull Durham (although...they were probably tears shed for a different reason). But these were movies- stories that were able to be intricately woven, truths that were changed to enhance the dramatic impact. How do you overcome things like the death of a beloved high school athlete?

If this story was a movie, the obvious ending would be for the team to gather around the memory of their fallen comrade, and march through the postseason tournament with a series of stirring victories, until excitement reaches a fever pitch in the championship game where the team falls behind to a prohibited favorite and then rallies to win the title with a last second shot.

It's much too early to tell whether that will happen or not- Districts just started yesterday. And realistically, such an ending would really just serve to reduce the life of Wes Leonard to that of the sports star- and that is in no way fair to his legacy, his family, or his community. The real life team spent the weekend deliberating about whether or not to even play in the tournament. In the end, the Blackhawks decided to go ahead with their Monday game against Lawrence. To say that the end result, a 65-54 win, is merely a footnote in this story is like saying that Charlie Sheen is a little crazy.

I'm not one of the people directly impacted by the situation, so it's not for me to say whether or not a state title ending would be the best ending- although I can't imagine anyone rooting against them. But this morning I read about how the District tournament game unfolded (and I highly recommend reading this hyperlink), and I realized that this story is about much, much more than a series of tournament brackets and box scores. It is about people confronting the harsh realities of life and having to lean on each other to make it through. It's about the forming of meaning in the face of the meaningless. It's a story that cannot be contained by school allegiances or county lines. It is the story of Wes Leonard. It is...the story of all of us.

It's easy to care when you're getting paid to be a football player at Notre Dame (um, I mean, in the movie. Yeah, yeah, that's it). Of course you'll be all about racial equality if Denzel is your coach. But the grace shown by the visitors from Lawrence (agreeing to move the game from their home gym, wearing tribute shirts for Wes Leonard) and the strength to come out and compete by the Fennville team...those kinds of things cannot merely come from the minds of writers. They have to come from deep inside of us. They come from a place that we all hope never to find, but we all need if we are to make sense of the horrible events that stalk our lives.

The death of Wes Leonard is an unmistakable tragedy. Whether you believe in a divine entity that controls our fates or simply random luck and chance, we all experience loss of loved ones- and sometimes that loss happens well before we feel that it should. And so we are left to scramble to pick up the pieces and fill the holes that have been carved into our hearts. That is why this story has resonated with me so. It is not about the death of Wes Leonard- it is about his life, and a celebration of what he meant to a small community in southwestern Michigan.

I pray we all find the strength to have such in the midst of hard times as the wonderful people of Fennville. I wish your team the best of luck in this state tournament, but more importantly, I hope you all find peace in this terrible loss.

For those who want their entertainment to be a little bit more

I just got reading Identity Crisis. It's a comic book. I'm 30 years old. Maybe that's not how I should start off a blog post.

Identity Crisis is (in my opinion) one of those transcendent pieces of pop-culture art. Often times, we indulge in the entertainment industry because we want to get away from the "real world". But other times, I want my entertainment to make me think. While I'm all about being swept away to Middle Earth, I also like to be taken to El Paso, Texas or Alexandria, Virginia. I don't just want my main characters to use light sabres- I want them to wrestle with whether or not they should have an abortion.

It's true that movies like 'Glory Road' or 'Remember the Titans' take serious liberties and straddle the line between art and life (for example, if you read about the actual team 'Remember the Titans' is based on, you'd think that the movie wasn't based on a true story at all). But still- these movies deal with aspects of our humanity in a way that empowers us to look past our shortcomings. They help us to see the potential that mankind has and to aspire to that level of greatness.

I feel the same way about other forms of entertainment- music, real books, and yes, comic books.

For me, I'm definitely much more into music that makes me think- I've never been a huge fan of pop music (at least lyrically, but I'll admit that I'm very easy to seduce with a catchy hook and a bumpin' chorus). It's one of the reasons I like Project 86 so much- their lyrics aren't just rehashed cliche's- they make you put your thinking cap on, while simultaneously making you violently move your body in such a way that your thinking cap will probably go flying off of your head.

Books? Well, at this point in my life I don't get much chance to read for entertainment, which is one of the reasons (my love of super hero culture being the biggie) that I gravitate towards comics books. At 30 years old. And no, I do not (nor have I ever) lived in my parent's basement. Probably because we didn't have a basement.

I love the intermingling of the word and of the visual in comic books. I love the fact that there are a finite number of characters, which means that I can become more attached to them than I could with a movie character. Aragorn is amazing...but you get him for, what, three books? I can read about Green Lantern over. And over. And over. I love the evolution of the characters. I love the diversity of the stories.

And while there will always be a place in my heart for shape shifting alien races infiltrating super hero teams in order to take over the world, or power rings that reanimate the dead in order to feed off of the living...I'm finding that more and more, I gravitate towards stories that make me think. For me, comics can be perfect mix of entertainment and contemplation. It's not too dense (thanks to the speech bubbles). The artwork not only soothes my ADHD tendencies, but can also convey parts of the story that the words don't always tell. Comic books are like a ninja of the mind. You think you're reading this goofy story and then all of a sudden BAM you've been Jackie Chan'd across the face with the dangers of big government.

Comics have a history of addressing social issues through unconventional means. The X-men provide a social commentary on many things, such as racism and diversity. A generation of young boys learned their morals from Superman. Spider-man taught us much about having responsibility for power at various levels.

With all that said, here is a list of 5 comics (all of them conveniently in graphic novel form, so I don't feel like such a geek- I mean, they're not comics, they're novels, right?) that I feel tackle deeper issues than keeping our convenience stores safe from masked shoplifters.

I suppose I should probably notify you of potential spoiler alerts. SPOILERS. There, you've been notified.

1) Kingdom Come (1996)- The first graphic novel that I ever read, and one that definitely planted the seed so to speak. Obviously the first thing that will jump out at you is the artwork. I really like Alex Ross' work- it feels more like a series of paintings than a comic book (and really, this statement shows my ignorance of art, because he probably does paint them). Read about the plot here.

It largely involves the implications of the actions of the superhero community, although it's not a stretch to apply some of the principles to our own reality. For example, should due process apply to all people? Or should certain offenders be "dealt with"? And what would be the far reaching influences of affording that sort of life/death power outside of the boundaries of the legal system?

2) Watchmen (1986)- I'm not even going to post a Wikipedia link to this one. If you haven't read it, or don't know what it's about, then you need to go out and get a copy. NOW. I'm not saying it's the best book you'll ever read, but I think that it has had enough of an impact to at least try it for yourself. You can buy your own copy here, unless you want to buy it/borrow it from somewhere else that I didn't link to.

Golly, what doesn't this book deal with? It deals with the accountability (or lack thereof) of political power. You get some interesting thoughts on extremism, nihilism and quantum physics. There is rape and redemption. Cold war tension. You confront the morality of sacrificing few for the good of the many. There are just so many nuggets in this book- and that is not even getting into how the book itself, as an art form, is constructed. Is it dark? Yes. Does it make you think? Yes. Is it awesome? See for yourself.

3) V for Vendetta (1982)- I would actually suggest reading about this here instead of actually reading it. Not that the book itself is bad- it was just hard to follow. There were so many characters, and the artwork made it really difficult to distinguish large chunks of the action. Probably about midway through, I gave up on trying to follow anyone except V and Evey.

Again, though, there are interesting thoughts and ideas presented here. I don't think it's any coincidence that Alan Moore has two works on this list (although to be fair, this is pretty much the extent of these types of graphic novels that I've read).

Anarchism. Fascism. Xenophobia. Totalitarianism. These are just a few of the big words that you will confront on the pages of V for Vendetta.

4) Identity Crisis (2004)- I should probably point out here that I did not make a "Top 5 list". I just wrote these down in random order. If this was a ranking list, this would be higher. I love this book- the art, the story, the way it's delivered- you actually feel like this is a real life community, and everybody is interconnected in some way.

This story brings to the forefront (again) whether certain actions are acceptable to maintain the greater good. It makes you ask 'how far would I go to protect my family'? It shows how a group of superheroes answers this question, and how these superheroes wrestle with the implications of their actions.

5) Red Son Superman (2003)- This is actually the most different book on this list (and honestly the rightful #5 in an arbitrary rankings system), because it doesn't deal as much with morality in a vacuum- it deals with how our environment plays an influential role in the shaping of our morals.

While I didn't necessarily get into this story (to be fair, I've only read it once), I have to admit that the idea of Superman being raised in Soviet Russia is very, very intriguing. Think about it- how different would you be if any one aspect of your life were changed? What if you were born in a different city? What if you had both parents (or only one parent)? What if you were born just up the road from a Jewish synagogue and not a church? What if you were born in a different country, a different time period? No siblings? Rich- or poor?

I would highly recommend any of these, because I am a big advocate of exposing yourself to different cultures, different lines of thinking- if we are too homogonous, we don't grow. You have to step outside of your safety net, and what makes you comfortable, and stretch yourself in order to truly reach the heights that you were made to reach. And if you get color pictures and speech bubbles along the way? Well, that's just a bonus.